Marketing
the movies to audiences in South Carolina between 1920 and 1960 required
creativity and effort. The larger cities had several theaters competing
for patrons. In 1945, Columbia had ten active movie theaters. In the
days before television, you had to go to a movie theater to see a movie.

For a small admission
price, you were escorted to your seat by an usher in a crisp uniform,
walked on a plush bright carpet, sat in a soft padded seat, ate fresh
popcorn, and watched a program that included the feature, a short subject,
newsreel, coming attractions, and a cartoon. Even smaller towns like
Belton, Beaufort, Chester, Hartsville, and Greer had at least two movie
theaters. To get people to come to their theaters, the managers had
to find clever ways to market the movies.

The large posters
that hung inside and outside the theater were the most obvious way to
promote a film. In the example at the right, the usher is wearing a
bright sash promoting the next attraction, "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon"
starring John Wayne and Joanne Dru. The newspapers contained large advertisements
for each film and often promoted the quality of the sound and image
as well as the comfort of the theater. But, that was only the beginning
of marketing the movies.

Our profound thanks
go to David Suggs of Blythewood for sharing these examples of marketing
pieces which were produced under the direction of his father, Malcolm
Samuel Suggs, City Manager of the seven Columbia theaters in the Wilby-Kincey
Theatre Chain.

Usher at the Palmetto
Theatre in Columbia - 1949
(Click on the image to see it larger)

Photo
from the collection of Malcolm Samuel Suggs, City Manager of the seven
Columbia Theatres in the Wilby-Kincey Theatre Chain - Charlotte, NC.

One of the more interesting
ways of marketing the movies was called the "Ballyhoo." A
Ballyhoo was a flamboyant decoration used at the theater entrance to
draw attention to the movie. All of these Ballyhoos are from the Palmetto
Theatre in Columbia. See our web page on the Palmetto
Theatre which has Ballyhoos for "The Wizard of Oz" and
"Tarzan Finds a Son."

This Ballyhoo promoted
"Out West with the Hardy's" released in 1938 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
starring Mickey Rooney.

"Sweethearts"
released by Twentieth Century Fox in 1938, starred Jeanette MacDonald
and Nelson Eddy.

"Kentucky"
released by Twentieth Century Fox in 1938, starred Loretta Young and Richard
Green.

My
favorite marketing practice was the "Sidewalk Specialty" In
the example to the left, a "Jackass" sits atop a tall ladder
in front of the Palmetto Theater to promote "Hellzapoppin"
starring the comedy team of Olsen and Johnson. The sign on the ladder
reads, "I may be a Jackass but I'm not coming down until Helzapoppin'
with Olsen and Johnson opens." The film was released in 1941 by
Universal Pictures.

Co-author of this
website, Mark Tiedje, was an usher at the Daytona Beach Theatre in the
late 1950's. One of his least-fond memories is being assigned to a "Sidewalk
Specialty" called "The Box." He had to sit in a large
closed box in front of the theater. When anyone walked by the box, he
loudly scratched the sides and top and made the scariest, most fiendish
noises he could. This was to promote the horror movie "The Fly"
released by Twentieth Century Fox in 1958.

Even today, this
technique is sometimes used by smaller alternative theaters and campus
cinemas. The film "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was
recently promoted by Bloomsburg University by writing the date, time,
and location of the show on campus sidewalks in brightly colored sidewalk
chalk.

That's pretty tame
compared to the creative ways the theater managers marketed the movies
with "Sidewalk Specialties" in the 1940's and 1950's.

Down
the street from the Palmetto Theatre in Columbia was the Kress 5¢
- 10¢ - 25¢ Store, commonly called the "Five and Dime."
These stores were on Main Street in nearly every town, alongside the
drug store and barber shop. The Five and Dime usually had discount prices
on a wide variety of goods including meals at their famous lunch counters.

In this image, the
Palmetto Theater and Kress are using a window poster to cross-promote
Disney's film "Dumbo" at the theater and a variety of Disney
toys and books at Kress' toy counter.

Door
Hangers and tags

This
promotional tag encouraged patrons to see "Treasure Island"
starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper. If you brought the tag to the
lobby, you could see if your key unlocked a treasure chest containing
valuable prizes.